It all ties together if you read this book…
Turkmeniscam: How Washington Lobbyists Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship
This is the first book I read on the train so far. It educated me just a we bit on how lobbying works with regard to those country’s that always seem to have dictators lopping off its’ citizens heads yet still traveling to the US for a Photo-op with the President and managing to always get some positive spin in the MSM despite its’ sordid reputation for human rights.
(there is a nice little nugget in it about Mike Scanlon and Rehoboth Beach)
In essence the lobbying firms in Washington DC are really PR firms shaping a message for a country (that typically has ENERGY resources) that wants to present istelf in a positive light to the United States in order to get ahold of our earmark money.
After you read it, then when you see articles like this:
Jail time dropped for sex-on-the-beach tourists:
The case revealed a fault line between Dubai’s expatriate majority and the city’s conservative Arab, Muslim minority.
Public displays of affection are illegal in Dubai — a city that has worked hard to cultivate an image as a party hot spot for Western tourists and businesses in the Middle East but has a conservative legal code based on Islamic laws and tribal rules.
You will know to wait for a positive story about the country to come out around the corner. So keep an eye out for some positive spin on Dubai in the next few days. If you see it, read it carefully, most likely that is a lobbying firm pushing out a puff piece to counter negative press. Especially Dubai, a real powerhouse considering who one of their biggest supporters is.
Yes that Dubai! Wait, you mean this country that has that ever expanding tourist industry? That has built this: